Russian Writes Of a Close Call After 'Poisoning'

Published: December 7, 2006

The former Russian prime minister Yegor T. Gaidar said in an article published Thursday that he had been a victim of poisoning and that he suspected ''obvious or hidden adversaries'' of the Russian government were behind it.

Writing in The Financial Times, he also recounted the events surrounding how had fallen ill with what Russian doctors said was an unknown illness. They have not conclusively determined the cause was poisoning.

Mr. Gaidar collapsed during a visit to Ireland on Nov. 24, a day after a former Russian secret agent, Alexander V. Litvinenko, died of radiation poisoning in a London hospital. Mr. Gaidar's condition improved and he was released from the hospital on Monday.

''When the thought that this could be a result of somebody's willful actions crossed my mind for the first time on the afternoon of Nov. 25, I started thinking about who could have orchestrated it. Who would gain from it?'' Mr. Gaidar wrote in an article translated into English.

''I rejected the idea of complicity of the Russian leadership almost immediately.''

Also having rejected the possible involvement of Russian radical nationalists, he said the most likely culprits were ''obvious or hidden adversaries of the Russian authorities'' seeking ''deterioration of relations between Russia and the West.''

Mr. Gaidar wrote that on Nov. 24, he ate breakfast in the canteen of the National University of Ireland where he was attending a conference. He entered the conference hall, and ''about 10 minutes later, I realized that I was unable to hear anything.'' He retired to his hotel room to rest.

Later that evening, he received a telephone call that ''apparently saved my life,'' from a representative of the conference organizers asking whether he would be attending a presentation on his book in five minutes.

''I considered saying no. Had I done so, and had I been alone in my room 15 minutes later, my chances of survival would have been zero,'' he wrote.

Ten minutes into a speech on his book, he excused himself and walked toward the exit, then collapsed.

''I was pale, unconscious,'' he wrote. ''It appeared as though I was dying.''